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Baked in 1916 and never eaten - the Chelsea bun that journeyed to the front and back, plus events marking First World War in Leominster

Hazel Hodges holds the Chelsea bun sent to her dad on the front line of the First World War. It features as part of an exhibition held at Leominster Library from next month. Photo: Andy Compton. is on display at Leominster Museum in Herefordshire. The bun

Hazel Hodges holds the Chelsea bun sent to her dad on the front line of the First World War. It features as part of an exhibition held at Leominster Library from next month. Photo: Andy Compton.

Hazel Hodges holds the Chelsea bun sent to her dad on the front line of the First World War. It features as part of an exhibition held at Leominster Library from next month. Photo: Andy Compton.

The story behind the Chelsea bun.

Hazel Hodges and Leominster Museum education and outreach officer, Deborah Jarman, with two of the embroideries made by Hazel's dad Alec Hodges while in St Thomas' Hospital in London. Photo: Andy Compton.

A SINGLE Chelsea bun returned uneaten from the Battle of the Somme is one of Leominster Museum’s best-known items.

And it is the work of the bun’s intended recipient – soldier Alec Hodges – which is to go on show as part of a unique series of events marking the town’s history and connection with the Great War.

After being injured on the front line during the Battle of the Somme, Mr Hodges was treated at St Thomas’ Hospital in London where it is thought he took part in a number of craft workshops, creating embroideries which detailed the Great War.

He never received the parcel containing the bun but it was returned and the sender, his sister Lily Poston, kept it safe.

His works will be on display as part of an exhibition at Leominster Library between October 2 and November 29.

But there are a number of events taking place this Saturday evening as part of the Rifles and Spades – Children of the Stream and Field event, organised by Leominster Museum.

Leominster Playhouse theatre company and members of Leominster Cadets are to perform readings from a play written by local man and soldier, Geoffrey Bright.

Originally written to raise funds for local veterans in the 1930s facing financial hardship, the play was popular at the time but the script was thought to be lost.

It is thanks to help from Mr Bright’s family that the museum – which is also holding an open day between 10am and 4pm on Saturday – obtained a copy.

Also on offer is a performance of Back to the Garden – a musical based on the letters of the former head gardener at Kinsham Court, William Bevan.

He wrote to his employer about his experiences in the trenches, mixing his love of horticulture with the grim realities of warfare. It will be performed by Village Quire, a musical group from Glasbury.

The final performance will be by the Leominster Morris, who will dance to the song Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire, a tribute to the Morris men of the town who went away to fight in the war and never returned.

The event takes place at Leominster Priory Church on Saturday (September 6) at 7.30pm.

Tickets, which are free, are available from Leominster Tourist Information Centre.